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Review of UFO 31


UFO 31
UFO 31 anno 1981. Lani on the river Blackwater UK

Basic specs.

sail specifications
The UFO 31 is a sailboat designed by the maritime architect bureau Holman & Pye in the mid seventies. The UFO 31 is built by the British yard Colvic Craft.

Looking for a new boat? Find a UFO 31 or similar boat for sale

Hull
The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.

Interior
Note: the boat has also been sold to be self-made/-interiored, which means that the quality of each boat may vary.

Rig
The boat equipped with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.

Engine

The boat is typically equipped with an engine.


Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for UFO 31 is 1.99, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.


Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 6.8 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.


Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for UFO 31 is about 159 kg/cm, alternatively 895 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 159 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 895 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.


Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for UFO 31 is 21.3.

Low High 34% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 34% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just below average.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for UFO 31 is 3.08.

Slim Wide 58% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 58% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for UFO 31 is 217 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 66% 0 50 100
66% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.


SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for UFO 31 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 15.5, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 18.7.

Low High 38% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 38% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for UFO 31 is 38

Slow Fast 38% 0 50 100
The relative speed performance is 38 which means that a it is faster than 38% of all similar sailboat designs.


Maintenance

Rig

Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.

mainsail specifications genoa specifications spinnaker specifications

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale



If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.



Guiding dimensions of running rig
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 27.6 m(90.6 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard27.6 m(90.6 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker halyard27.6 m(90.6 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Jib sheet 9.4 m(30.9 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Genoa sheet9.4 m(30.9 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Mainsheet 23.5 m(77.2 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker sheet20.7 m(67.9 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Cunningham2.9 m(9.5 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Kickingstrap5.8 m(19.0 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Clew-outhaul5.8 m(19.0 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section shown boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what to look for.



Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for UFO 31 it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.



References